Scottish Executive

Adult Literacy

Mrs Lyndsay McIntosh (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action Communities Scotland plans to take in order to tackle adult literacy and numeracy issues.

Iain Gray: Communities Scotland will establish a development centre, to take forward a work programme supporting practitioners involved in improving literacy and numeracy levels across Scotland. This will include developing: a framework for a fully accredited national training programme for literacy and numeracy practitioners; a national curriculum for literacy and numeracy; pathfinders to raise awareness of literacy and numeracy, and test out innovative ways of delivering literacy and numeracy provision; e-learning options; a national online databank of resources; and further research.

Bathing Waters

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which European standards, both mandatory and guideline, it is referring to in its commitment to bring the 60 designated bathing beaches up to European standards and over what timescale it expects to deliver this commitment.

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive is committed to achieving the mandatory standards of the Bathing Waters Directive (76/160/EEC) at the 60 identified bathing waters in Scotland as soon as practicable. Beyond this, we are seeking to achieve the guideline standards in the directive. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency's consenting policy requires that all new and revised consents for discharges in the vicinity of identified bathing waters will permit the bathing water to achieve guideline standard.

Bathing Waters

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the bathing waters panel will next meet.

Allan Wilson: There are no plans to convene the bathing waters panel.

Bathing Waters

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-4810 by Allan Wilson on 7 March 2002, whether it is committed to achieving compliance with European standards for all Scottish bathing waters or only those beaches designated in Working Together for Scotland: A Programme for Government .

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive is committed to achieving European standards at the 60 waters in Scotland, identified as bathing waters for the purposes of the Bathing Waters Directive (76/160/EEC).

Caledonian MacBrayne

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider incorporating the Jura to Islay ferry service into the tendering process for the routes currently being served by Caledonian MacBrayne.

Lewis Macdonald: The Jura to Islay ferry is the responsibility of Argyll and Bute Council. This route has already been tendered successfully by the council, and we have no plans to include it in the tendering of routes currently being served by Caledonian MacBrayne.

Caledonian MacBrayne

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make any representations to Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd in order to ensure that the Dunoon to Gourock car ferry service is retained.

Lewis Macdonald: Only the passenger element of Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd's Gourock to Dunoon route is eligible for public subsidy. The company carries vehicles on a commercial basis and may reduce or withdraw that provision at its own discretion.

Caledonian MacBrayne

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22522 by Lewis Macdonald on 21 February 2002, how it defines "the spring" and, in particular, when spring begins and when it ends.

Lewis Macdonald: Question S1W-22522, asked about the timetable for consulting on the draft service specification for the tendering of services currently provided by Caledonian MacBrayne. We plan to publish the draft specification in May or June.

Digital Inclusion

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what its definition is of the term "universal access" used in the report, Digital Inclusion: connecting Scotland's people .

Iain Gray: Universal access will have been achieved, when there is affordable and pervasive access to the web throughout Scotland - whether at home, in work, or through public internet access facilities. Our aim is to ensure that public access to the web is generally available, within five miles in rural areas and within one mile in urban areas.

Domestic Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many bids were received for funding under the Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund in 2001-02.

Ms Margaret Curran: Forty-eight applications were received for the first round of the Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund. Most were for two year funding and covered the financial years 2000-01 and 2001-02. A further 10 projects were approved later to take up the full funding provision available.

Domestic Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many projects under the Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund have had their funding discontinued and how many of these will continue to be funded by the other funding partner.

Ms Margaret Curran: Nine projects from the first round had funding discontinued in this round. It is a matter for other funding partners to decide whether they should continue their support.

Eating Disorders

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to implement the recommendation of the Royal College of Psychiatrists that there should be a consultant with special expertise in the treatment of eating disorders in each NHS health board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS trusts are responsible for recruiting staff and making arrangements, that best respond to the assessed needs of their areas. In reaching decisions in this regard, I expect all available advice and guidelines to be taken into account, including that within our published guidance, which calls for NHS boards to consider establishing a specialist multi-disciplinary team, either at their own hand or on a consortia basis.

Education

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the fees paid to markers were for the exam diets of (a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001.

Nicol Stephen: Information about the fees paid to the markers of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), is an operational matter for the SQA and is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive. However, I have passed your question to the Chair of the SQA.

Enterprise

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to address the economic needs of the north-east.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive is committed to the north-east of Scotland and through its agencies, including Scottish Enterprise Grampian, has a series of programmes to address economic change in that area.

  Following our meeting on 28 February on manufacturing businesses in the Aberdeen area, I can confirm that Scottish Enterprise Grampian is in regular contact with key businesses experiencing economic difficulties, and are currently reviewing the prospects for manufacturing industries in the Aberdeen area. They will publish a report shortly.

Enterprise

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in expanding the range of qualifications funded through the Skillseekers programme.

Ms Wendy Alexander: We accept the principle that Skillseekers should broaden its coverage, where the qualifications can support workplace competence and knowledge, and public funding for the qualifications is not already available. Over 80 qualifications outside Scottish Vocational Qualifications are already delivered as part of Skillseekers. £2 million will be spent over the next two years in developing new learning programmes for 16- 19-year-old employees.

Enterprise

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of total direct foreign investment (a) companies and (b) other organisations in the Fife Council area received in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Of the inward investment projects attracted to Scotland by Scottish Development International and its partners in the years 1998-2001, the proportion attracted to Fife is set out in the table:

  


Year


% of Total Projects


% of Total Jobs




1998-99


11


6




1999-2000


10


11




2000-01


9


16

Enterprise

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much government aid was used to attract direct foreign investment to (a) companies and (b) other organisations in the Fife Council area in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Government aid, in the form of Regional Selective Assistance, was offered to inward investors locating in Fife in each of the three years from 1998 to 2001 as follows:

  


Year


Assistance Offered
(£m)




1998 - 99


8




1999 - 2000


13




2000 - 01


8

Environment

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many areas are currently proposed for designation as Special Protection Areas in each of 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Allan Wilson: The current list of Scottish Special Protection Areas (SPAs) is almost complete. I expect a further six sites, and one extension, to be classified between 2002 and 2004. Consideration is currently being given at UK level to a review of the UK SPA network, but no additional sites have been identified at this stage.

Environment

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23462 by Allan Wilson on 11 March 2002, of which expert bodies it made wide-ranging enquiries in respect of the "Largs Hum"; on what dates each such enquiry was made; what the nature of the enquiries was, and whether it will publish the responses received from the expert bodies.

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23462 by Allan Wilson on 11 March 2002, whether, when attempting to determine the source of the "Largs Hum", any body or organisation has carried out (a) a geological survey of the area where any noise has been most pronounced, (b) a survey of noise and vibration generating structures, transmission masts and submarine communication lines, (c) any measurement of electromagnetic radiation levels in the area where any noise is most pronounced and (d) an investigation of the communication line connected with the Faslane Naval Base at Helensburgh; if so, (i) by whom and when any such investigations, surveys or measurements were carried out and (ii) what conclusions were drawn.

Allan Wilson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13098 on 9 March 2001 and also to the answer given to question S1W-23462 on 11 March 2002.

Environment

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers to be significant levels of discharge of nitrogen compounds of agricultural origin.

Ross Finnie: The Nitrates Directive requires the identification of waters affected by pollution, and which could be affected by pollution, if specified measures are not taken. It defines pollution as "the discharge, directly or indirectly, of nitrogen compounds from agricultural sources into the aquatic environment…..". The directive also requires the designation as nitrate vulnerable zones of all known areas of land which contribute to such pollution. The Scottish Executive considers that the discharge of nitrogen compounds of agricultural origin requires to be more than de minimis to contribute to that pollution.

  For our current consultation on proposals for new nitrate vulnerable zones we have taken advice from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the British Geological Survey about which areas contribute to pollution, as detailed in the answer to question S1W-24039 today.

Environment

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken in order to ensure that the proposed Nitrate Vulnerable Zones apply only to areas where the discharge of nitrogen compounds of agricultural origin make a significant contribution to pollution levels.

Ross Finnie: Th Scottish Executive has taken advice from the British Geological Survey and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in identifying the boundaries of the proposed Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) to ensure that only areas making a significant contribution to pollution are included. Parts of upland catchments have therefore been excluded from the proposed NVZs on this basis. The available groundwater nitrate data from upland areas are generally low. This is confirmed by Scottish Environment Protection Agency surface water nitrate data.

  My officials recently wrote to those farming around the proposed NVZ boundaries specifically inviting comment on the line of the boundary. We are looking closely at the proposed boundaries, in light of comments received, to ensure that no non-polluting areas are included.

Film Industry

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it will give to plans to rejuvenate the banks of the River Clyde in Clydebank by transforming the former John Brown shipbuilding site into a film studio.

Dr Elaine Murray: Scottish Screen is working with the property managers on the site, to assess the feasibility of creating permanent build space and production offices for the film and television industry in Clydebank.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how the Health Technology Board for Scotland will eradicate any inequality of access to medicines through the issuing of guidance alone and whether it has any plans to make such guidance statutory in line with the rulings by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHSScotland should take account of advice and evidence from the Health Technology Board for Scotland, and ensure that recommended drugs or treatments are made available to meet clinical need. Likewise, individual clinicians should take account of evidence-based guidance, when exercising their clinical judgement. Centrally, the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland includes all relevant guidance when developing its standards and, subsequently, checks for compliance during its visits programme.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when disposable equipment will be widely available for ear, nose and throat operations in the NHS and how many patients are currently waiting for operations requiring new equipment.

Malcolm Chisholm: Single-use equipment for tonsil and adenoid surgery has been widely available to NHSScotland since August 2001.

  Following concerns about patient health and safety, an embargo on undertaking routine tonsil and adenoid surgery was introduced on 21 December 2001, whilst an audit of all such procedures, performed with single-use instruments was undertaken. Routine tonsil and adenoid surgery recommenced with effect from Monday 11 March 2002.

  Information on the number of patients waiting for in-patient and day case treatment is collected centrally at specialty level only. The Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency has now put arrangements in place, so that the number of patients on the in-patient/daycase waiting list, awaiting routine tonsil and adenoid surgery on 31 March 2002, can be accurately identified.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will propose any incentives to encourage local healthcare co-operatives to raise awareness of, and address issues relating to, public health through public health clinics and by taking other appropriate measures.

Malcolm Chisholm: Guidance has been issued to NHSScotland underlining the important role of Local Health Care Co-operatives (LHCC's) in developing and delivering a broader range of community based services and initiatives, including health improvement and health promotion. This is underpinned by a locality based approach to assessing the needs of local people and working with a range of agencies to provide appropriate services which focus on improving health and reducing inequalities. This role is underlined by the appointment of public health practitioners to each LHCC.

Heritage

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22172 by Dr Elaine Murray on 5 February 2001, on what grounds it stated that Kilmartin House had not accepted its offer of a meeting and on what date the offer was declined.

Dr Elaine Murray: My predecessor, Allan Wilson, offered to meet with representatives of the Kilmartin House Trust in a letter dated 7 November 2001. The director was advised by telephone to await the ministerial reshuffle before making an appointment with the appropriate minister. The director wrote to me on 6 February, and I again offered a meeting with representatives of the trust in a letter dated 21 February. The request was accepted and a meeting took place on 20 March.

Housing

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities whose tenants chose not to accept the housing stock transfer option will be given any other form of assistance with housing debt.

Ms Margaret Curran: There are no plans to provide assistance with the housing debt of those authorities who do not transfer their housing stock.

Housing

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many units of social housing were built by each local authority in each of the last three years and how many such units are projected to be built by each local authority in each of the next two years.

Iain Gray: Information on the number of social housing units built each year, is published in the Scottish Executive Housing Trends Bulletins . The information, by local authority area, was published for the years 1998, 1999 and 2000 respectively in the following publications, all of which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. numbers: HSG/1999/4, HSG/2000/3, HSG/2001/2). Information for 2001 will be available, and published, in June 2002.

  There are no centrally produced projections on future new build levels.

Housing

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the local authority housing capital allocations for 2002-03.

Iain Gray: I am able to announce the local authority housing capital allocations for 2002-03. These are set out in the following table.

  Capital Allocation Allocations 2002-03

  


Authority


Proposed
Allocations
(£m)




Aberdeen City


5.293




Aberdeenshire


4.495




Angus


1.536




Argyll and Bute


1.607




Clackmannanshire


1.597




Comhairle nan Eilean Siar


1.701




Dumfries and Galloway


2.125*




Dundee City


8.436




East Ayrshire


3.489




East Dunbartonshire


2.388




East Lothian


2.510




East Renfrewshire


0.964




City of Edinburgh


14.916




Falkirk


5.369




Fife


7.007




Glasgow City


22.000*




Highland


7.230




Inverclyde


3.965




Midlothian


2.122




Moray


1.848




North Ayrshire


2.953




North Lanarkshire


12.330




Orkney Islands


0.224




Perth and Kinross


2.108




Renfrewshire


8.565




Scottish Borders


0.400*




Shetland


1.000*




South Ayrshire


2.906




South Lanarkshire


5.858




Stirling


3.048




West Dunbartonshire


5.657




West Lothian


2.097




Scotland


147.744




  Note:

  *. Reduced allocations due to expected housing stock transfer during 2002-03 (subject to tenant ballot). Supplementary allocations will be made available later in the year, to cover the period to the actual date of transfer.

Individual Learning Accounts

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what learning providers in the Glasgow Kelvin parliamentary constituency area have been recipients of Individual Learning Account payments and what the total value was of such payments.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The following learning providers, based in Glasgow Kelvin parliamentary constituency, have been recipients of Individual Learning Account payments:

  Alliance Francaise de Glasgow - £21,073

  AMT International - £5,219

  BPP Glasgow - £13,382

  British Red Cross Scotland - £360

  Catersafe Food Hygiene - £750

  Centre for Educational Systems - £1,800

  Centro Espanol Lorca - £22,005

  College of Holistic Medicine - £4,650

  Garnethill Centre - £450

  Glasgow Caledonian University - £64,513

  Glasgow Media Access Centre - £155

  Goethe-Institut Glasgow - £14,344

  Gosta Training - £701

  Harmony Kinesiology College - £655

  Informatics Group UK Ltd - £750

  International Correspondence Schools - £42,106

  Internet Exchange - £30,000

  ITC-Skills Ltd - £289,221

  Kinharvie - £1,950

  Learning and Teaching Scotland - £23,816

  Mindstore - £1,350

  Netcon-X Enterprise Ltd - £1,200

  Network Driver Training - £600

  PCT Professional Development - £300

  Scot-Train - £45,220

  Scottish College of Complementary Medicine - £2,400

  Scottish Screen - £1,805

  Scottish Training & Counselling Services (SCOTACS) - £5,920

  Scottish Yoga Teachers' Association - £1,350

  Services to Software Ltd - £600

  Share - £2,143

  Sports Rehab and Education Services - £857

  Stow College - £283,490

  University of Glasgow - Adult & Continuing Education - £134,703

  University of Glasgow - Language Centre - £3,528

  University of Glasgow - Universal Training Solution - £23,769

  University of Strathclyde - Centre for Lifelong Learning - £40,773

  University of Strathclyde - Centre for Professional Legal Studies - £28,000

  University of Strathclyde - Languages for Business - £600

  The total value of payments to these providers is: £1,116,508.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take following the appeal judgement on 14 February 2002 that, if sheriffs do not properly discharge the Intermediate Diet, the prosecution fails.

Mr Jim Wallace: As the member will now know, the Criminal Procedure (Amendment)(Scotland) Bill was introduced to Parliament on 25 February, to reverse the decision of the High Court of Justiciary in the case of Reynolds v Procurator Fiscal Linlithgow , with retrospective effect. All three stages of the Parliament's consideration of the bill were completed on 27 February. It received Royal Assent on 8 March and came into force on 9 March as the Criminal Procedure (Amendment)(Scotland) Act 2002.

Justice

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many cases in (a) High Courts and (b) sheriff courts CCTV systems have been used in connection with the cross-examination of vulnerable witnesses in the past three years.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Court Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  No figures are maintained, to show the frequency with which CCTV systems are used. However, prior to using such systems, the prosecution or defence must first make application to the court. While, in the event the CCTV system may not be required to be used, the number of such applications in the last three years are given in the following table:

  Applications made to the court for the use of CCTV

  




1999


2000


2001




Sheriff Courts


23


11


12




High Court


26


29


27

Justice

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many cases screens have been used in (a) High Courts and (b) sheriff courts in order to give a degree of protection to (i) vulnerable witnesses and (ii) police witnesses over the last three years.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Court Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  (i) No figures are maintained to show the frequency with which screens have been used. However, prior to using screens, the prosecution or defence, first make application to the court. While in the event the screens may not require to be used, the number of such applications in the last three years are given in the following table:

  Applications made to the court for the use of Screens

  




1999


2000


2001




Sheriff Courts


45


38


43




High Court


24


31


28




  (ii) In terms of section 271 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, these provisions can be used in respect of child witnesses or persons who are suffering from mental disorder, within the meaning of the relevant mental health provisions, or who otherwise appear to the court, to suffer from significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning. They do not extend to cover police witnesses.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the source will be of the funding to keep Steven Beech under 24-hour surveillance.

Mr Jim Wallace: Costs incurred by Aberdeen City Council in providing 24-hour surveillance of Mr Beech will be reimbursed by the Scottish Executive under the 100% funding arrangements for criminal justice social work services.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions took place before it was agreed that Steven Beech could move to Aberdeen and who these discussions involved.

Mr Jim Wallace: Grampian Police were alerted in advance to Mr Beech's intention to move to Aberdeen. Subsequently there has been very close co-operation between the relevant statutory agencies and the voluntary sector over the appropriate arrangements for him.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23474 by Ross Finnie on 11 March 2002, whether the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill as introduced will clarify the question of whether there is a law of trespass and what its current position is on whether there is such a law at present.

Ross Finnie: There is a law of trespass in Scotland. Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill creates a right of responsible access to land (including inland water) for recreational purposes and for passage. For the first time the bill creates clear and unambiguous general rights of access to land in Scotland.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22710 by Ross Finnie on 18 February 2002, what representations or correspondence it has received expressing an opinion on section 9(2)(a) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill as introduced and, of these, how many (a) supported and (b) opposed the inclusion of this provision in the bill.

Ross Finnie: Section 9(2)(a) was included following representations received during the consultation on the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill. Since the introduction of the bill, concerns have been expressed by some that the inclusion of this provision will curtail the activities of people such as mountain guides. We have received 35 letters to this effect. Views for and against section 9 (2) (a) have been included in evidence to the Justice 2 Committee. Although in principle, we are not convinced it is appropriate to grant a business a statutory right of access to someone's land for the purpose of making a profit, we are considering the suggestions made by the Justice 2 Committee concerning possible amendment of section 9(2)(a).

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proposals for access rights in Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill (a) are necessary and (b) are proportionate with need and (c) comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ross Finnie: Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill for the first time creates clear and unambiguous rights of general access to land. In recommending the creation of rights of responsible access to land, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Access Forum highlighted the confusion that exists amongst members of the public as to where they may legally go in the countryside. It is important that all members of the public have the opportunity to enjoy our natural heritage and participate in healthy outdoor activities.

  The legislation has been drafted to balance the demand for greater access with the rights of those who live and work in the countryside. We are content that the provisions are proportionate and comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Local Government

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in any discussions with the Scotland Office to ensure that any electoral pilot schemes for local government elections will be matched with any similar schemes for the Scottish general election in 2003.

Peter Peacock: The issue of extending pilots to the Scottish parliamentary elections was raised with the Scottish Secretary last year, and she has advised that it appears sensible to legislate, to extend pilots to the Scottish Parliament elections when an opportunity arises.

Local Government Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the fourth supplementary question to question S1O-4764 by Peter Peacock on 28 February 2002, which councils have received special borrowing consent in order to allow them to eliminate budgetary deficits.

Peter Peacock: Western Isles Council was granted additional borrowing consent in 1991, in respect of significant losses incurred by investment in BCCI. I am not aware of any other council having been granted special borrowing consent in relation to a budget deficit.

Local Government Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the fourth supplementary question to question S1O-4674 by Peter Peacock on 28 February 2002, whether it would respond favourably to an application for special borrowing consent by the Scottish Borders Council if the council applied part or all of its proposed reserves of £1.8 million to reducing cuts to front line services.

Peter Peacock: No such request has been received. The level and use of reserves is a matter for the council.

Local Government Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the answer to question S1W-22619 by Peter Peacock on 21 February 2002 and the answer to the fourth supplementary question to question S1O-4764 by Peter Peacock on 28 February 2002, what the difference in circumstances is between the position of Western Isles Council and the current situation at the Scottish Borders Council with regard to a council obtaining special borrowing consent following mismanagement of its finances.

Peter Peacock: The position of Western Isles Council in 1991, is significantly different from that in the Scottish Borders, in that Western Isles Council had acted ultra vires, in investing in BCCI and faced loses equal to around one third of its total annual budget for services. The scale of the losses suffered by Western Isles Council meant that without action being taken immediately, the delivery of basic services was under threat.

  The Controller of Audit's report into the Scottish Borders budget deficit in 2001-02, identified an overspend, accumulated over two years 1999-2000 and 2000-01, of £3.9 million - or less than 1.5% of its total budget for all services for each year - arising from financial mismanagement.

Local Government Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the letter by the Minister for Finance and Public Services to the Finance Spokesman for COSLA dated 25 February 2002, whether the minister will allocate £3-4 million of the identified under-spend of £200 million to Scottish Borders Council to prevent the present round of cuts.

Peter Peacock: No. It is for Scottish Borders Council to set a budget which is within its means. I understand that it has done so.

Ministerial Cars

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police and Lothian Transport plc with regard to parking of ministerial cars on double yellow lines and at a bus stop in the Lawnmarket, High Street, Edinburgh between 5.00 pm and 6.00 pm on days when the Parliament is sitting.

Mr Andy Kerr: No discussions have taken place between the Scottish Executive and Lothian Transport plc, about parking in the Lawnmarket. There were discussions with the Lothian and Borders Police Scottish Parliamentary Police Service in 1999, about the safe transportation of ministers in the heavily congested area surrounding the Parliament buildings.

NHS Trusts

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19947 by Malcolm Chisholm on 17 December 2001, whether it is satisfied that Lanarkshire Primary Care NHS Trust ensures that high quality primary care services continue to be available for the people of Lanarkshire.

Malcolm Chisholm: Arrangements are in place across Scotland to enable the Health Department to monitor NHS performance and quality of service, and to support independent verification of service quality. On the basis of these arrangements, I am satisfied that in general terms Lanarkshire Primary Care Trust ensures that high quality primary care services continue to be made available to the people of Lanarkshire.

National Parks

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to comments made by the Visitor Services Manager of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs Interim Committee in The Courier on 11 March 2002, what (a) research has been done on or (b) estimates have been made of how many additional visitors from England, Wales and the rest of Europe there will be following the establishment of the proposed Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

Allan Wilson: Whilst the Interim Committee is a participant in a project to develop common baseline information about visitor surveys, I am not aware of any precise estimates of additional visitors to the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, nor of specific research into that aspect. The Visitor Services Manager's remarks, as reported, were framed in general terms.

New Deal

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the introduction of the Progress2Work pathfinder initiative will have on the delivery of the New Deal in Fife.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on funding and delivery of the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.

  Progress2work is part of a wider suite of work in the New Deal Next Phase aimed at the harder to help clients. It will target jobless people disadvantaged by drug misuse. Employment Service are about to issue the contract for specialist support services in Fife that will allow drugs misusers better access to the New Deal.

  Employment Service have also appointed an employment and drugs measures co-ordinator in Fife to develop and manage a local plan to help ensure the cohesion of services and to build local referral networks.

  These measures are aimed at helping individuals move towards engaging with the New Deal and improving their opportunities of getting a job.

Non-Departmental Government Bodies

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has used its power of direction in respect of non-departmental government bodies and, if so, (a) when, (b) in respect of which bodies and (c) why it did so.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not held centrally.

Nursing

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22141 by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 February 2002, when information from the Implementation Group established to take forward its Action Plan, Facing the Future on the employment of full-time nursing staff will be available.

Malcolm Chisholm: On 26 February, I announced an additional £3.5 million for the Facing the Future initiative, to help improve the recruitment and retention of nurses, together with measures which have already been taken forward by the implementation group. A copy of the press release can be obtained at:

  www.scotland.gov.uk.

  Progress on the initiatives and measures arising from Facing the Future, will be communicated widely, in particular to front-line nurses, in due course through various mediums including the development of an updated web page on Scottish Health on the Web (SHOW).

Planning

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many representations it has received from MSPs on planning applications which have been referred to Scottish ministers since May 1999.

Ms Margaret Curran: In the period May 1999 to date, 830 planning applications have been notified to the Scottish ministers. To extract and examine each file, current and archived, in order to provide the information requested could only be carried out at disproportionate cost.

Post Office

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which Minister is responsible for devolved matters relating to the Post Office and its impact in (a) rural areas and (b) deprived urban areas.

Allan Wilson: The Minister for Environment and Rural Development is the lead Cabinet Minister on all Post Office related matters of a devolved nature, and I deal with them on a day to day basis. All relevant ministers are consulted as appropriate and, in relation to deprived urban areas, this means close liaison with the Minister for Social Justice.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it invited tenders for the purchase of HM Prison Penninghame more than once and, if so, why this was done.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  As confirmed in the written answer to questions S1W-20333 on 28 January 2002, and S1W-23460 on 11 March 2002, no tenders were invited. The property was placed on the open market.

Public Appointments

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people currently serve on more than one non-departmental public body (NDPB); what NDPBs these are; what remuneration each of these persons receive from each NDPB; whether any of these persons are politically affiliated, and how long each such person has served on each NDPB.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals hold two or more appointments to public bodies; when they were appointed to each body, and what remuneration each such person receives for each appointment.

Mr Andy Kerr: As at 1 December 2001, there were almost 1,100 appointees serving on NDPBs sponsored by the Scottish Executive. At the same date 56 people were serving on more than one non-departmental public body (NDPB). 75% of these 56 people had not declared any political activity in the five years prior to appointment. The appointments were made in compliance with the OCPA code. The following table shows the aggregate figures:

  


Total appointees


1,097




Total number of people holding more than one appointment.


56




Percentage of people holding more than one appointment


5%




Total number of politically active people holding more 
  than one appointment.


14




Percentage of politically active people holding more than 
  one appointment


1.3%




  The details requested about the 56 individuals is set out in the following table:

  


Members on more than one public body


Names of bodies involved


Remuner-ation levels
(£)


Details of Party where political activity declared


Appt from


Appt to




Ahmad, Mushtaq


Central Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace
South Lanarkshire Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee


None


Labour


11/96
06/01


10/03
11/04




Alexander, Margaret


Scottish Hospital Endowments Research Trust
National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting 
  for Scotland


0
10,000


None


04/96
04/99


03/04
09/02




Blair, Ann (Kay)


Scottish Legal Aid Board
Scottish Ambulance Service Board


7,600
7,000


None


04/91
04/99


03/02
03/03




Borthwick, Ian


Dundee City Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee
Tayside University Hospital NHS Trust


0
7,000


Independent Labour


09/96
04/99


09/02
03/03




Burley, Lindsay


Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education
Scottish Advisory Committee on the Medical Workforce


0
0


None


02/97
04/96


09/02
03/02




Burnett, Gavin


Scottish Hospital Trust
Scottish Conveyancing and Executry Services Board


0
298
(per day)


None


01/99
05/91


01/05
05/04




Cairns, Robert


Historic Buildings Council for Scotland
East of Scotland Water Authority


0
28,643


Labour


12/95
01/98


04/03
03/02




Christie, Campbell


Scottish Enterprise
Forth Valley NHS Board


9,028
7,000


Labour


04/98
09/01


04/04
01/05




Cowen, Myer


Central Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace
City of Edinburgh Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee


0
0


None


11/96
03/97


10/03
02/06




Cox, Gilbert


South Lanarkshire Justices of the Peace Advisory Committee
North Lanarkshire Justices of the Peace Advisory Committee


0
0


None


10/00
10/00


08/10
08/10




Dempster, Alastair


Scottish Hospital Endowments Research Trust
Sportscotland


0
25,466


None


10/98
07/99


09/02
06/03




Dennis, Marina


Crofters Commission
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute


13,968
0


None


10/96
04/94


09/02
03/03




Dunbar, Angela


Ayrshire and Arran Acute Hospital NHS Trust
North Ayrshire Justices of the Peace Advisory Committee


7,000
0


Labour


02/99
08/96


01/03
07/02




Edmond, Stuart


Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd
Highland Acute Hospitals NHS Trust


5,964
7,000


None


04/00
02/99


03/03
03/03




Faulds, James


Scottish Screen
Scottish Arts Council


0
0


None


07/00
04/98


06/04
03/04




Findlay, Johan


Parole Board for Scotland
Dumfries and Galloway Justices of the Peace Advisory Committee


161
(per day)
0


None


01/00
09/96


12/05
09/02




Forbes, Graham


Historic Buildings Council for Scotland
Clinical Standards Board for Scotland
Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission


0
7,000
372
(per day)


None


01/00
04/99
04/99


12/02
03/03
12/01




Goldstraw, Wendy


Accounts Commission for Scotland
Scottish Crop Research Institute


3,928
0


None


10/94
04/00


09/02
03/04




Gray, John


Scottish Higher Education Funding Council
Scottish Further Education Funding Council


5,031
5,031


None


07/99
02/99


06/03
03/03




Greenhill, Patricia


Stirling Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee
Scottish Homes


0
7,674


Conservative


05/97
06/96


05/03
03/02




Hanlon, John


Health Technology Board for Scotland
Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care


7,000
7,000


None


04/00
09/01


03/02
08/04




Hardie, Donald


East Dunbartonshire Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee
West Dunbartonshire Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee


0
0


None


04/96
04/96


01/11
01/11




Henderson, Richard


East Ayrshire Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee
North Ayrshire Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee
South Ayrshire Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee


0
0
0


None


04/96
04/96
04/96


07/06
07/06
06/06




Howatson, William


Health Education Board for Scotland
Scottish Environment Protection Agency
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute


5,000
5,474
0


Liberal Democrats


12/96
10/99
04/98


03/04
12/02
03/02




Johnston, Grenville


National Museums of Scotland
Highlands and Islands Airports


0
5,964


None


04/98
03/01


03/02
02/04




Keighley, Brian


Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education
Clinical Standards Board for Scotland


0
7,000


None


04/93
04/99


09/02
03/02




Kuenssberg, Nicholas


Scottish Legal Aid Board
Scottish Environment Protection Agency


7,600
5,474


None


04/96
01/99


03/04
12/03




Kuenssberg, Sally


Scottish Children's Reporter Administration
Yorkhill NHS Trust


16,736
22,000


None


04/95
08/01


03/02
07/05




Mackay, Angus


Health Technology Board for Scotland
Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards


0
0


None


04/00
02/98


03/04
10/04




Maehle, Valerie


Scottish Higher Education Funding Council
Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust


5,031
7,000


None


08/97
02/99


07/03
01/03




Matheson, Alexander


Western Isles Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee
Highlands & Islands Airports Ltd


0
18,679


None


03/00
03/01


11/16
02/04




May, Christine


Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Homes


9,028
5,798


Labour


12/99
07/99


11/02
03/02




McColl, James


Scottish Industrial Development Advisory Board
Scottish Higher Education Funding Council


0
5,031


None


01/99
06/98


12/01
05/02




McDonald,
Jacqueline


Lothian NHS Board
Scottish Medical Practices Committee


7,000
174
(per day)


None


09/01
03/95


09/03
03/03




McFadden, Jean


Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland
Glasgow City Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee


0
0


Labour


01/00
09/96


12/03
09/02




McGoldrick, James


Tayside University Hospital NHS Trust
Scottish Higher Education Funding Council


22,000
5,031


None


12/00
06/01


11/02
06/04




McKerrow, William


Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education
Scottish Advisory Committee on the Medical Workforce


0
0


None


06/98
06/99


06/02
05/02




McMillan, Ian


Scottish Ambulance Service Board
Scottish Qualifications Authority


7,000
0


None


04/00
01/97


03/04
12/01




McNally, Teresa


Clackmannanshire Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee
Forth Valley Primary Care NHS Trust


0
7,000


Labour


05/00
04/99


07/06
01/03




Morris, Christopher


Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments


0
0


None


10/90
12/99


12/01
10/04




Morrison,
Garth


Lothian Primary Care NHS Trust
East Lothian Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee


22,000
0


None


11/98
06/01


10/02
04/18




Mullin, John


The Accounts Commission for Scotland
Argyll and Clyde NHS Board


3,928
28,000


Labour


10/97
07/01


09/03
07/04




Parker, Cameron


East Renfrewshire Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee
Inverclyde Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee
Renfrewshire Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee


0
0
0


None


05/98
05/98
05/98


04/07
04/07
04/07




Raven, Andrew


Deer Commission for Scotland
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute


22,565
5,000


None


01/99
04/97


12/01
03/04




Roberton, Esther


Scottish Further Education Funding Council
Fife NHS Board


31,464
26,000


Labour


11/01
04/00


10/05
04/04




Ross, John


Dumfries & Galloway NHS Board
Hill Farming Advisory Committee for Scotland


26,000
0


None


07/01
11/96


07/04
11/03




Royan, James


Grampian NHS Board
North of Scotland Water Authority


28,000
7,170


None


08/01
08/99


08/03
07/03




Scott, Eoin


Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland
Orkney Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee


0
0


Liberal Democrats


01/00
09/97


12/03
09/03




Smith, Ian


National Museums of Scotland
West of Scotland Water Authority


0
7,126


None


04/99
08/99


03/03
07/03




Stirling, James


Central Advisory Committee of Justice of the Peace
Falkirk Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee
Stirling Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee


0
0
0


None


06/95
04/96
04/96


10/03
09/05
09/05




Timms, Peter


Scottish Industrial Development Advisory Board
Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd


0
6,240


None


01/90
07/00


12/01
06/03




Tripp, Alan


Scottish Higher Education Funding Council
Scottish Further Education Funding Council


5,031
5,031


None


08/00
02/99


07/04
03/03




Walker, Susan


North of Scotland Water Authority
Scottish Natural Heritage
Fisheries Electricity Committee


7,170
7,027
0


None


08/99
04/00
01/01


07/03
03/03
03/04




Ward, John


Scottish Qualifications Authority
Scottish Homes


0
29,436


None


11/00
04/96


12/01
03/02




Wright, Andrew


Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland
Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland


0
0


None


04/97
01/96


03/05
12/03




Wright, Helen


Central Advisory Committee of Justice of the Peace
Dundee City Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee


0
0


Labour


11/96
03/97


10/03
02/06




Total: 56

Public Appointments

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the process is for announcing appointments to the membership of a public body, when this process was introduced and on how many occasions since its introduction the process has not been followed.

Mr Andy Kerr: The process for announcing appointments to public bodies was introduced across the UK Government as part of the Nolan reforms in 1996 and was revised in 2001. The code published by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) requires all appointments to be announced in an appropriate way as described in the code. It has been the responsibility of each department of the Scottish Executive - previously each department of the Scottish Office - to ensure compliance with the OCPA Code in relation to appointments made to NDPBs sponsored by that department.

  In June 2001, the Executive announced the following plans for changes to the internal administration of the appointments process in the document Public Bodies: Proposals for Change: "A central unit in the Executive will in future oversee most of the standard elements of the appointments process (such as issuing information packs, acknowledging applications, convening appointments panels) in respect of most of the bodies sponsored by the Executive. The aims will be to bring a greater consistency of approach, and to make the process smoother for applicants and more efficient by maximising economies of scale".

  The Executive also announced in January 2002 that, in future, the declared public activity of every member of every public body will be published in the Executive's annual report on public appointments.

  Detailed records of the procedure, followed in the announcement of the thousands of appointments made since 1996, are not held centrally. However, in preparation for the internal changes described above, and the publication of comprehensive details of political activity, the Executive's Public Appointments Unit has recently audited the data on political activity of current members of NDPBs. They have discovered that in most cases the correct procedures have been followed. However, I regret to say that they have discovered that in 411 individual cases, the political activity declaration was not completed and so the correct procedure for announcing these appointments was not followed. We have contacted all the individuals concerned and virtually all of them have now submitted completed political activity declaration forms. Six declarations remain outstanding. One of these individuals has been out of the country for three months and the other five have been difficult to contact.

  I am extremely concerned that the correct procedure for announcing appointments was not followed by officials in every case and have raised this matter with the Permanent Secretary. He has, in turn, instructed the Heads of the Executive Departments to ensure that the correct procedures are followed in every respect in future. In addition, the central Public Appointments Unit is being strengthened in line with the announcement referred to above. It will be given the task of ensuring compliance with the OCPA Code and in due course the code published by the Scottish Commissioner for Public Appointments. This Executive is completely committed to ensuring that our procedures for making public appointments are transparent and fair and that people are appointed on merit.

  The collection of the missing political activity declaration forms does affect the aggregate information about the political activity of appointees serving on NDPBs sponsored by the Executive, published in reply to question S1W-18802 on 19 November 2001. Until all the outstanding political activity declarations have been received, we are unable to provide final figures showing how many individuals currently in post have been politically active. Nonetheless, I wish to be as open as possible on this matter and the following table provides the breakdown of political activity as at today's date:

  


No of Appointees


No of Appointees who have declared political activity


Affiliation to Political Parties of those who have declared 
  political activity




Con


Lab


LD


SNP


Other




1,095


228*


23


128


33


20


24




  Note:

  * figures as at 26 March.

  I shall report further progress to Parliament at the end of April. I shall also provide then a list detailing the names of each individual who has been politically active and the body on which they serve.

  Note 1: Eight current members of NDPBs have declined to complete political activity declarations, as they are currently entitled to do under the terms of the OCPA Code

  Note 2: The number of appointees and the number of appointees who have declared political activity includes 35 local authority members of NHS boards and one member who was appointed to the Scottish Ambulance Service Board ex officio in his capacity as local authority member nominated by COSLA. All 36 individuals are by definition politically active. Since 30 September 2001, each of the 32 Scottish local authorities has nominated an elected member to serve on its local NHS board. They are appointed by Scottish ministers ex officio in their capacity as elected council members.

Public Transport

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to deliver integrated ticketing between the various train operating companies, bus and coach companies and ferry companies throughout Scotland.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is participating fully in the development of the Transport Direct Initiative. Transport Direct is a UK national project which aims to deliver integrated traveller information and ticketing across all modes of travel.

  The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001, includes provision to enable local authorities to determine what ticketing arrangements should be made available in their area, for local bus services. The guidance that was published on the bus provisions of the act, included a statement that the Executive would, when procuring transport services, encourage the development of multi-modal information provision and joint ticketing schemes

  The Scottish Executive's consultation paper Strategic Priorities for Scotland's Passenger Railways, makes clear that the Scottish Executive will encourage train operators to work with providers of local bus services to issue a single ticket for bus and train travel.

  When procuring ferry services the Executive will encourage operators to contribute to wider efforts to develop joint ticketing schemes and to make available travel information on a multi-modal basis.

Rail Services

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce overall journey times by reducing missed connections at key rail interchanges throughout the Strathclyde Passenger Transport area.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Strategic Rail Study, commissioned by the Scottish Executive in July 2001, is currently looking at the likely costs and benefits of potential improvements to passenger railway services, operating in central and north-east Scotland. This includes service improvements, such as reduced journey times and reliability.

  The connection between services at key rail interchanges is a timetabling issue and, as such, is an operational matter for the rail industry. Amendments to timetables, must be agreed at the national timetable discussions involving train operators and Railtrack.

Rail Services

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide functioning and accurate electronic information boards at key railway interchanges throughout the Strathclyde Passenger Transport area.

Lewis Macdonald: The functioning and accuracy of electronic information boards at key railway interchanges in the Strathclyde area, is an operational matter for ScotRail, in conjunction with Railtrack and the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive.

  However, railway infrastructure projects, including the provision of new electronic information boards, may qualify for financial assistance, through the Scottish Executive's Public Transport Fund. Bids under this fund would have to satisfy eligibility criteria and compete with other bids.

Refuges

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration will be given to the position of council-owned refuges and other supported housing schemes for victims of domestic violence in housing stock transfer programmes.

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place with Scottish Women's Aid and other appropriate bodies concerning the provision and funding of council-owned refuges and supported housing schemes for the victims of domestic violence following the transfer of housing stock from council ownership to housing associations.

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what legal protection will be given to the residents of refuges and supported housing schemes following the transfer of housing stock from council ownership to housing associations.

Ms Margaret Curran: It is a matter for local consideration and agreement, as to whether council-owned refuges and supported housing schemes for victims of domestic abuse, are included as part of a council housing transfer to community ownership. Where residents of refuges are assessed as homeless, the homelessness provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 will continue to apply after transfer. In addition, regulations to be made under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 will strengthen the rights of people living in hostels.

Refuges

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the sustainability plan is for the barrier free refuge in Glasgow announced on 5 March 2002.

Ms Margaret Curran: Glasgow Women's Aid has been granted £50,000 from the Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund for a contribution to the set up costs of the barrier free refuge being developed under the Refuge Development Programme. Sustainability is not an issue for this project as the set up cost is one off expenditure for 2002-03 only.

Refuges

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the £50,000 for a barrier free refuge in Glasgow announced on 5 March 2002 will be used for.

Ms Margaret Curran: The funding is a contribution towards the start up costs for the new barrier free refuge. It will help pay for the specialised furniture and fittings necessary to provide access for the disabled.

Renewable Energy

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is being made available in order to encourage a domestic manufacturing industry for wind energy components.

Lewis Macdonald: We work closely with Scottish Enterprise to help Scottish companies working in the area of renewable energy to grow, and to encourage diversification of other companies into the manufacturing opportunities which are already arising in Scotland from development of renewable energy sources under the forthcoming Renewables Obligation (Scotland). We will continue to back our own renewables industry, to attract new investment to Scotland, and to persuade Scottish businesses to capitalise on this new business opportunity.

Social Justice

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether people with a severe and irreversible vision impairment living alone in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency area should be housed on the upper floors of a tower block; whether there are any safety implications for such persons in the event of a fire or any other emergency; what action it will take in order to address any such situation, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive issues general guidance on allocations from time to time, but allocation policies and individual allocations are the responsibility of the relevant landlord. Acting within the framework set by legislation, Communities Scotland may examine allocations policies as part of the registration and inspection process, which all social landlords are subject to.

Social Justice

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency area have (a) been waiting for sheltered housing placements and (b) were provided with such a placement in each of the last (i) 12 months and (ii) five years.

Iain Gray: The information requested is not held centrally.

Student Finance

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which body took the decision to transfer responsibility for awarding post-graduate research grants from the Students Awards Agency for Scotland to the Arts and Humanities Research Board and when that decision was taken.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The decision to transfer responsibility for the administration of the Scottish Studentship Scheme from the Students Awards Agency for Scotland to the Arts and Humanities Research Board was a matter for the Scottish Executive and was announced on 16 November 2001. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-19977 on 16 November 2001.

Student Finance

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the transfer of post-graduate research student awards from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland to the Arts and Humanities Research Board, whether funding for post-graduate students in Scotland was ring-fenced at no less than the level it was before the transfer of responsibility.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) has agreed with the Arts and Humanities Research Board that it should aim to spend no less than £1.6 million on Scottish domiciled students. While this funding will not be formally ring fenced, we are confident that Scottish students will compete strongly for awards and are assured that SHEFC will monitor performance carefully.

Student Finance

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons were for transferring responsibility for research grants from the Students Awards Agency for Scotland to the Arts and Humanities Research Board.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive agreed to this transfer following an indication from Universities Scotland that, having consulted with its membership on this issue, it had received a positive response. In all other fields of study, comparable postgraduate awards for Scottish postgraduate students are administered through the UK Research Councils. It was expected that the move would benefit Scottish-domiciled arts and humanities students, by giving them access to a UK-wide fund, for which they were expected to compete strongly, and by ending an arrangement by which these students were uniquely excluded from UK-wide arrangements in matters such as research training programmes.

Teachers

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any local authorities intend to end existing temporary contracts for teachers in order to finance one-year placements for new entrants to the teaching profession from August 2002.

Nicol Stephen: Deployment of staff is a matter for local authorities and information on the use of temporary contracts is not held centrally.

Voluntary Organisations

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to backdating eligibility for exemption from water and sewerage charges for voluntary organisations that lost relief after moving premises.

Allan Wilson: The exemption scheme will operate with effect from 1 April 2002. The Executive will announce the scheme's eligibility criteria, including the qualifying date for eligibility, shortly.

Young Offenders

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce the need to hold young people under 18 years of age in adult penal establishments.

Dr Richard Simpson: Young people aged 16 to 20, on conviction, are normally detained in a Young Offenders Institution and not in an adult establishment. Those under 16 who are sentenced by a court to detention are normally held in a secure unit of a residential childcare establishment, but where this is not possible they may, exceptionally, be placed in a Young Offenders Institution.

  The Executive's policy is to develop robust, non-custodial disposals to give the court a realistic alternative to custody wherever possible. This is particularly important for young people, who have a high rate of recidivism from short sentences of detention.

  In addition, the proposed Criminal Justice Bill will pave the way for piloting arrangements to deal with 16- and 17-year-old offenders, through the children's hearings in appropriate cases. It will also enable those aged 16 to 20 who have been remanded in custody, and those who have attained the age of 14 and who have been certified by a court to be unruly or depraved, to be detained either in a prison or a Young Offenders Institution. At present, the law does not make provision for those concerned to be held in a Young Offenders Institution.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Catering

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what environmental protocols exist in regard to catering practices in the Parliament; how often these practices are monitored and by whom, and whether the conversion from crockery to plastic containers in the restaurant salad bar is compliant with any such environmental protocol.

Sir David Steel: The Parliament's Facilities Management Office is responsible for environmental issues within the Parliament and regularly discusses these with contractors at monitoring meetings.

  The Parliament's catering contractor, Sodexho, currently arranges for recycling of glass bottles, plastic cups and aluminium cans. Sodexho is also proactive in working with Parliament staff to ensure that the management and disposal of recyclable items is dealt with in an environmentally friendly way.

  The conversion from crockery to plastic containers used in the salad bar was implemented to ensure the quality of the product provided. Previously, the prepared salads deteriorated after a short time, leading to high wastage rates. The replacement sealed tubs stop this deterioration and are also more convenient if the food is taken away. The tubs, once used, are sent for recycling.

  The SPCB's specification for the Holyrood catering contract places great importance on environmental performance, and this represents a key part of the evaluation process.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer how much (a) has been spent and (b) is due to be paid in legal costs in connection with the attempted recovery of debt from Flour City International Inc in respect of the losses to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body resulting from the insolvency of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and whether it is worthwhile incurring further expenditure on such recovery.

Sir David Steel: Information is currently being sought from the Parliament's legal office which will enable the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body better to consider its position. The Parliament's own legal directorate has been taking specialist legal advice from Shepherd & Wedderburn WS.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what evidence was provided of the skills and abilities of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd prior to the contract for the MSP block of the Holyrood Project being awarded to it.

Sir David Steel: The evidence provided on the skills and abilities of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd prior to the letting of the contract for the MSP building cladding package is being assessed by Audit Scotland as part of their routine audit of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body's (SPCB) accounts and it is not appropriate to provide details until the findings of the audit report are known. Any further action by the SPCB will be considered in the light of Audit Scotland's findings.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-20309 on 7 December 2001, whether there should now be an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the award of the contract for the MSP block wall cladding and window package of the Holyrood Project to Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and how the losses currently estimated at £3.9 million arose.

Sir David Steel: The evidence provided on the skills and abilities of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd prior to the letting of the contract for the MSP building cladding package is being assessed by Audit Scotland as part of their routine audit of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body's (SPCB) accounts and it is not appropriate to provide details until the findings of the audit report are known. Any further action by the SPCB will be considered in the light of Audit Scotland's findings.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer when legal advice in regard to the recovery of losses resulting from the insolvency of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) was first sought and from which firm; when such advice was provided, and who is now responsible for taking any decision to incur further costs in the recovery of losses from Flour City International Inc.

Sir David Steel: Information is currently being sought from the Parliament's legal office which will enable the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body better to consider its position. The Parliament's own legal directorate has been taking specialist legal advice from Shepherd & Wedderburn WS.